Chemistry of Cooking

Rationale

Teaching all subjects at the 5^th grade level welcomes opportunities for cross-curricular exchange and planning where students organically observe connections and are more intentional about how they leverage their academic skills to construct knowledge. The Chemistry of Cooking lessons aligned to this curriculum unit will engage them throughout the school year as well as provide all students regardless of performance level or learning abilities with comprehensive project-based experiences where they will be required to complete standards-based tasks incorporating skills from all subjects taught in our classroom. Scholars will be expected to do actual cooking, explain their discoveries and creations using academic language/formulas, and develop systems for sharing their learning experiences making their work and knowledge accessible to a general audience. Through explorations involving food groups, types, tastes, and textures, recipe development, cooking demonstrations, and scientific research, 5^th grade students will tackle challenges and gain real world skills and consciousness essential for their matriculation. Because 5^th grade is the end of the elementary era, this curriculum unit serves as a rite of passage that signifies a shift in childhood where students learn to practice and develop appreciation for trial and error.

There are 4 cornerstones of education associated with this curriculum design including focusing on intellectual development, emotional intelligence, building practical skills, and utilizing intelligence to positively impact the real world. Scholars will learn literacy, math, and science skills to explore and explain cooking academically. Kitchen tools are dangerous and correct use must be explicitly taught to build capacity in people. Often children are shielded from kitchen work because adults fear the possibilities related to how they could hurt themselves or others. Learning emotional regulation and intelligence through cooking shapes well-rounded individuals. This will be achieved through strategic implementation of skill-building in phases and intentional introduction of techniques and tools in alignment with the curriculum roll out. Students will be expected to be as practical as they are imaginative throughout the unit. Emphasis on practicality will ensure children are grounded and balanced in their pursuit of results. They will be encouraged to explore wild ambitions; however, the goal is to develop ideas and creations that are useful. Using academic contexts and competencies to develop a cookbook with mathematical and scientific content to explain the rationale for recipes will be culturally impactful as student creators will be inventing/curating experiences that extend beyond themselves. Bridging reading, writing, math, and science concepts throughout the roll out of this curriculum will make students more competitive academically. Cooking is science and art; therefore, STEM education takes precedent as it will cultivate essential critical thinking skills in children.